One of the things I love about October is the ability to enjoy Halloween. As a kid, October was the best month and still is today. On top of Halloween, there is my brother’s birthday in the first week of October, Thanksgiving the second week, followed by my birthday and then Halloween in a week and a half from then.
Overall, it was a month filled with sweets, time with family and friends, and the crisp and colourful days of autumn.
And while this month has gotten tamer as I’ve grown older, this year has been forced to be tame by outside circumstances. That being this pandemic that has swept the world. And while some countries have enjoyed the luxury of opening back up, most of the world is still in a state of lockdown and many people have been discussing whether Halloween should be cancelled entirely.
But whether that’s the case where you are at or not, here are some things to do during these times.
Keeping To Most Traditions
You can still enjoy halloween and keep most of the traditions around this season. The only thing COVID has pushed us to do is to wear masks and maintain social distancing as best we can after all.
Keeping these two things in mind, Halloween isn’t going to change a whole lot in most areas. You’re still able to carve pumpkins, watch scary movies at home, and get some decorations (like custom drapes) to make your home spookier. It’s easy to wear a mask and maintain social distancing with these things.
But the thing with those activities is they don’t always have to involve another person. What about traditions that are done in larger groups in the past?
What about trick or treating?
Depending on how your area has handled the pandemic thus far it’s up in the air for whether this is a good idea or not. Within my area, I’d say it’s okay considering the following:
- there hasn’t been that many cases,
- people are constantly wearing masks
- and they are washing and sanitizing their hands regularly.
If your area is routinely doing these three things, it’s generally fine. After all, these are precautions that medical professionals have been telling us time and time again.
All that being said, you still want to be mitigating the spread if you are planning on doing trick or treating. Some ideas for things to do are:
- Instead of handing out candy as you would normally, place goody bags out on a table. When preparing them, make sure to wash your hands and have them sanitized prior to packing them. Furthermore, when the kids pick up the bags, tell them to sanitize and wash their hands when they get back home. Also, have someone overlook the spot to pass on that message while also ensuring people don’t take all of the candy off the table.
- Another creative way to handle handing out candy is to hang treat bags or pieces of candy from a large tree or area for kids to pick from.
- Considering this pandemic has made us more health-conscious people, opt for something healthier for candy. Chocolate covered fruit or juice boxes can work.
- To limit the potential contact, you can also cut back on the amount of candy you want to offer this year. Instead of buying a large value pack, consider preparing only half that amount.
By keeping these things in mind, trick or treating is more possible and realistic. The only thing to keep in mind is to be wearing a mask and ensure you keep social distancing.
Have A Different Kind Of Party
Halloween parties are another way to enjoy halloween, though these are trickier to pull off thanks to COVID. Large gatherings indoors is out of the question since there won’t be a lot of space to maintain social distancing. Not to mention a mask is helpful though it doesn’t protect you from contact.
You’ll need to be taking a different approach to parties this year, however there are plenty of creative ways to go about it. Here are some ideas:
- You can still do an indoor party, however you’ll have to limit the amount of people who you can invite.
- If limiting the number of people will be difficult, you can also consider a more open area. Someone’s backyard is a good place to host a scary movie night or other activities while keeping social distancing.
- Another alternative is having a costume party through video chats. Zoom is a popular option, but you can also consider Google Hangouts.
Making Treats At Home
Whether you have kids or not, you can use this opportunity to enjoy Halloween by making something. While trick or treating is a huge aspect, many people are still paranoid about this pandemic and for good reason.
In those circumstances, if you think you’ll be spending the night indoors, why not make something in your own home? There is a tonne of different recipes to pick from. Here is a list of treats you can make. These are suitable for both kids and adults.
Enjoy Halloween With Some Candy Hide-And-Seek
Another creative idea I found is doing candy hide and seek. Think of it like Easter where you’re hiding eggs around the house. The only difference is that it’s October rather than April.
You can also get as creative as you’d like with this by providing a map and turning it into a scavenger hunt. Or you can simply scatter the candy around the house – inside and out – and leave the kids to find it themselves.
Spending Time In Self Reflection
The last thing you can do to enjoy Halloween is to spend some time with yourself. Maybe it’s the fact that I turned 29 not too long ago, but I find during events like these to be better spent alone to some degree.
Even before COVID, I found it more enjoyable to keep to myself and to reflect on my life and where I want it to go. These kinds of moments I cherish as the only other times I do this is by the end of the year where I set out my goals for the next year.
I think self reflection these days is even more important now as this pandemic has changed a lot about our lives. Even looking at a narrow scope of Halloween, you can already see you have to make changes. It’s impossible to go back to how we used to do Halloween. Not unless you want to risk yourself catching COVID.
That reality means that we all need to make some kind of change in our lives. And I find the best way to do that is to spend some time in deep self reflection.
Again, you don’t need to spend your entire evening doing this. However, I would encourage you to at least take stock of your life and where it’s going, how it’s changing, and whether you are happy with where it’s going. If not, why not take some active steps right now?
You Can Enjoy Halloween Still
This pandemic has forced so much change into our lives and will continue to do so. We have to adapt to this new way of life and that means changing up our own traditions and rituals around these times. Regardless, you can still enjoy Halloween and keep most of the traditions intact. Or maybe you want to mix things up this year and try out some of the ideas I mentioned above. Whatever the case is, I hope that you enjoy your Halloween this year.
To your growth!
Eric S Burdon